Greetings! Happy New Year! I sincerely hope that 2012 brings good things to you and your loved ones. I am very optimistic about good things happening for SBCCD. There is no doubt that this will be a year of changes and we must remind ourselves that change can be good for a number of reasons.
Change gives us the opportunity to consider the way we think about the world. Change stimulates new ideas and new discussions, and change moves us from our comfort zone and challenges us to move forward in new and interesting ways.
As part of this issue of Chancellor's Chat, I will try to address, in general ways, some of the issues that we are dealing with and how change may occur. A large part of my role as Chancellor is to anticipate events that will cause change and to respond to those events in a way that matches our mission, vision and values.
DEB DANIELS As you may have heard, President Debra Daniels' last working day at SBVC is January 31, 2012. On behalf of the District Board, we thank Dr. Daniels for her work as SBVC President and wish her the best of luck in her new position.
I am working with the Board of Trustees to identify the Interim President and plan to have an announcement at the January 19th Board meeting. We will begin recruiting a permanent president during the spring semester. Details will be announced after the January Board meeting.
THE STUDENT SERVICES INVESTIGATION
For the past three months, an ongoing investigation has been taking place within Student Services at SBVC. While I am not able to discuss the details of the investigation, I can inform you that we hope to have the fieldwork concluded by early February with an investigative report issued by the end of February.
RESIGNATION OF HERB ENGLISH Mr. Herb English has tendered his resignation as Director of EOP&S at SBVC effective January 6, 2012.
RETIREMENT OF CHIEF PAT MCCURRY Effective, December 31, 2011, Pat McCurry, retired as our Chief of Police to dedicate more time to private business ventures and to his family. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank Chief McCurry for his service to the District over these past five years.
During this transition period, Lieutenant Pierre Galvez will assume the lead role in the department. Pierre can be reached at 909-384-8280. He will be happy to meet with you or your department about any safety concerns you may have.
During this spring semester, the District Police Department will undergo a review by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). IACLEA is the professional organization for campus law enforcement and has established a best-practices program that is conducted by a peer group of experienced campus law professionals. The outcome of the review is a blueprint for recommended best-practices in the areas of staffing, training, financing, technology, communications, emergency preparedness and other relevant areas. We will make further staffing decisions after the IACLEA review is completed.
Pat McCurry's email will continue to be in place for an additional thirty days so please feel free to drop him a line to thank him for his service and to wish him well. And, again, feel free to call Lt. Galvez if you have any questions or concerns.
Budget Update
CURRENT YEAR - 2011-2012
As you may know, on December 13th, Governor Brown and the Department of Finance announced that revenues for the 2011-12 Fiscal Year were estimated to fall $2.2 billion below the budget assumptions made in June.
Per statutory agreement reached by the Legislature and the Governor with the passage of the 2011 Budget Act, this shortfall will "trigger" both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 current year reductions outlined in statute and shared with you in earlier communications.
SBCCD's General Fund budget $1 million reduction from $67.3 million to $66.3 million.
207 full time equivalent students (FTES) enrollment reduction from funding 13,261 FTES to 13,054 FTES, equivalent to 54 class sections or 557 student headcount.
A fee increase from $36 to $46 per unit commencing in the summer of 2012.
As planned and if necessary, the District is in a position to utilize available fund balance to cover the $1 million reduction, reducing the fund balance from $22.4 million to $21.4 million, resulting in a net 28.7% fund balance (state minimum is 5%, Board directive minimum for 2011-12 is 15%).
There have been no reductions identified for restricted or categorical programs thus far.
The state Chancellor's Office will provide greater detail on the implementation of these reductions. In the meantime, cost savings initiatives continue to be implemented including a "selective hiring freeze," and reductions in spending for this fiscal year. The District is currently on pace to save over $500,000, which would help offset the $1 million reduction from the State and reduce the amount of Fund Balance required to cover the reduction.
NEXT YEAR 2012-2013
With a projected deficit beginning at more than $9 billion, the Governor has proposed a series of steep programmatic cuts and a temporary revenue increase that would need to be approved by the voters on the November ballot.
There are no reductions proposed for the California Community Colleges, contingent on the passage of the November initiative. If the initiative fails, however, the Colleges would be subject to trigger cuts in the middle of the year of over $4 billion that would be shared with the K-12 system.
Our VERY preliminary analysis of the worst case scenario, is a reduction of approximately $3.25M to our revenue. If this reduction is taken via a workload reduction, the 13,054 FTES would be reduced to 12,342 (5.4%, or 708 FTES, or 186 sections - 130 for SBVC, 56 for CHC).
The budget would restore about $218 million in deferral funding to the Community Colleges. There is no new funding for growth, COLA or any funding restored to the categorical programs. There is a funding offset of $146.5 million from CCC apportionments to projected increases in property taxes resulting from the elimination of redevelopment agencies. No additional student fee hikes beyond the $46 is planned.
The Governor has also proposed to consolidate most categorical programs into a single funding program (perhaps DSPS and Foster Care would be excluded) to provide Districts with greater flexibility in determining how funds should be utilized.
If the tax initiative is approved by the voters in November, the Governor's budget also includes annual funding increases of 4% in the fiscal years 2013-14 through 2015-16. There may be some tie-in of these funds to the Student Success Initiative and to allowing college districts greater operational flexibility.
We will keep you posted as further details about the budget and our strategy to implement the budget develop further.
New mini-art gallery in the Chancellor's Office
Thanks to the cooperation and enthusiasm of David Rosales, SBVC Art Department faculty, the Chancellor's Office now has a mini-art gallery. The first "show" is Professor Rosales' own work. The display will change periodically and showcase the art of our faculty and our students.
SBVC Professor David Rosales Displays his art in the Chancellor's Office.
Student Success Task Force Final Report Goes to the Board of Governors
UPDATE: Redistricting On January 9, 2012, the CCC Board of Governor's accepted the final report of the Student Success Task Force. The report can be found by clicking on the report cover image below. There are 22 separate recommendations in the report that cover the gamut from "developing and implementing a common diagnostic assessment tool to more accurately determine the skill levels of entering students" to "New technology and additional counselors to create more robust student services..." to "Enhanced professional development for both faculty and staff, especially related to the instructional and support needs of basic skills students."
While many of these recommendations reflect innovative thinking that will be of benefit to students, many ideas are common sense that will require an infusion of funding to implement. If the Governor's ballot initiative for new tax revenues passes in November, there could be additional funding for the California Community Colleges, part of which may be used to fund the Student Success Initiatives.
Please let me know how I can help you in the performance of your important work on behalf of our great District.
